Looking back from the end of the south jetty.
The Shark River is your best bet for shore diving in the northern half of the New Jersey coastline, far better than the Manasquan River. Shark River offers at least four different locations to dive: either side of the inlet, with rock jetties to explore, slightly upstream at A Street in Belmar, and upriver in the back bay area at L Street, Belmar. The wreck of the Malta is also just a few blocks south on the beach, but hardly worth diving.
Restrictions:
These restrictions are clearly posted on both sides of the inlet; also see Regulations. Since this is a tidal river, you must dive at slack water. If you've never dived a local river or inlet before, you may want to look at the page on Local Diving Conditions.
Not all fishermen are thieves, but some certainly are, and anything you leave on shore, or even in the back of your vehicle, is likely to be gone when you get back from your dive !
Shark River Estuary
Why is it called the Shark River?
I have dived this inlet many times, and have never seen even a small shark, although I have been told that they can be seen on occasion from high up on the bridge. Apparently, in the late 1800's a large shark was swept upstream into the bay, where it died. Or the river could be named after the fossilized shark teeth that can be sifted from the sand upstream in Shark River Park. The original Indian name for the river was Nollectquest, the actual meaning of which has been lost to time.
Low tide, winter. Beach replenishment has all but filled in the "L".
This inlet has an L-shaped jetty on the north side, and a longer straight jetty on the south side. Both jetties are made of loose stones - hardly any concrete - and the bottom is sandy and usually clean. You can walk over the bridge from one side of the inlet to the other in about five minutes.
The north side has an easy giant-stride entry into deep water under the bridge, and small rocks to climb out on. For this reason it is often overrun with O/W students. The south side has a more difficult climb down or up the rocks. Don't do a stride off the concrete wall - you could be impaled on sharp rusty rebar. On both sides it is possible to climb up the rocks almost anywhere in a pinch, although it may not be easy.
If you get in early, you can ride the current upstream, and then back to your starting point when it reverses. If you are late, you can ride the current out past the end and swim around to the beach, although obviously this will mean slogging across the sand.
The south side is more interesting than the north side. Around the bridge and for quite a ways upstream, there is a steep rocky slope below the large jetty stones, down to almost 30 feet. This can harbor all kinds of small creatures, and gets covered with a riot of colors by fall. I have seen this area in bright sunny clear conditions, and would compare it to a Caribbean wall dive, but days like that are rare.There are also deep spots under the bridge where larger fishes may congregate.
By comparison, on the north side the jetty stones meet the sandy bottom directly, except where they are replaced by bulkhead upsteam. Directly under the north side of the bridge used to be quite a bit of rubble and debris that could be searched-over, but most of it has been removed by misguided river clean-ups, leaving a much more barren environment. Downstream from the bridge, both sides are pretty much the same - big rocks meeting a sandy bottom; the north side might be a little better for lobsters.
North side, middling tide. Under the bridge - the easiest entry and exit.
Same site, view from above.
This is my favorite shore dive. The river is generally clean and the visibility is decent. Early in the season you can catch quite a few lobsters here, but it seems to tail off as the water warms, and by mid to late July it is over. There are also crabs, smallish fluke in the sand, eels, small Blackfish, the ever-present cunners, tropicals late in the season, and all the free fishing sinkers you could want.
Parking is free in Avon on the north side, metered in Belmar on the south, and can be hard to find close by. Either way, you will have to hike a short ways with your gear to get to the water. There is a 7-11 store not far south of the bridge where you can get ice, etc; and there are showers on the north side.
See Restrictions at the top of this page.
Another view of the jetties and bridge.
Looking up from under the bridge.
The south side of the inlet.
By Herb Segars
A starfish travels over a piece of rusting metal on the inlet bottom.
Shark River Inlet in Avon, New Jersey, is used by boaters to reach the Atlantic, by fishermen to obtain a fresh dinner and by scuba divers to explore a new and exciting world. People who stroll the beaches and boardwalks are awed by the inlet's beautiful panorama. Hidden beneath the surface of the water, however, is another world, a world foreign to the majority of surface dwellers. In this undersea world of everyday conflict, the weak and wounded soon become part of the food chain.
This particular inlet is divided into three distinct habitats. Mussel beds, located directly beneath the Ocean Avenue bridge, stretch from the shoreline to the center channel pilings. Here, myriad sea creatures conduct everyday business. The mussel is a picture of beauty as It extends its mantle to feed on microscopic life carried In the current. Nestled between the mussels are tiny sea anemones, whose tentacles sway gently in search of the very same minuscule morsels. Multi-armed starfish use their tiny tubular feet to move from place to place. Grotesquely fashioned, but camouflaged to near invisibility, sea sculpins perch on the mussel beds awaiting their prey.
Projecting seaward through the inlet, man-made jetties of rock provide a second type of habitat for numerous aquatic species. Scooting in and out of openings in the rocks are blackfish and many baitfish. Smaller holes provide homes for eels and the nocturnal-feeding lobster. Although most people do not associate the lobster with New Jersey waters, lobsters are harvested in this area by commercial lobstermen and sport divers. Colonies of mussels, barnacles and plant life are also found on the jetties, where they spend their entire life cycle maintaining a foothold on the slippery surface.
A Green Crab on a mussel bed.
The last area of exploration is the sandy flats, where two species predominate. Pancake-shaped members of the fluke and flounder family lie motionless on the bottom, camouflaged by their natural coloring. patiently awaiting their dinner. Unfortunately for them and happily for fishermen, they are often fooled by the baited hook. Shortly thereafter, they will fulfill their destiny In nature's food chain as someone else's dinner.
Suitably garbed for an outer space encounter or a round of battle in the Coliseum, the crabs are the true gladiators of the inlet. Equipped with extremely sharp and powerful claws, their first reaction to a human intruder is to rear up and defend their ground. They defend themselves from other sub sea inhabitants with equal tenacity. The sand flats are home to rock crabs, blue claw crabs, speckled crabs and hermit crabs.
These are just a few of the many inhabitants of our local inlets, where beneath the murky water, life is an awe-inspiring spectacle.
A Sea Anemone on mussels on the rock jetty.
A lobster showing his weapons.
A speckled Lady Crab displays its beautiful coloration.
This article first appeared in New Jersey Outdoors - July / August 1984
View of the up-river area, looking southeast. Either side is diveable
upstream to the first road. Arrow marks
A Street entry location.
Yet another place to dive the Shark River is on the south side, near the intersection of 1st Avenue and
A Street, behind the apartments. There is limited but very convenient free parking. A small cement stairway leads down to a concrete ledge above the water. Climb down between the big rock and the bulkhead, where you will find more steps underwater. ( Whoever B.M and M.M. are - thank you ! )
The bottom here is much like the rest of the river - sand and mussels. The rocks in this sunny spot are covered with orange sponges, red and green seaweeds, and anemones - very pretty. Depths are in the 10-15 foot range, although you may want to stay higher where the light and colors are better. The rocks are large and not closely packed, so you can swim in and around them. Tropical fish seem to favor this spot.
The bulkhead is not very interesting, which is ok because you are not supposed to go that way anyway. The topside ledge at the water's edge goes almost all the way to the bridge, and is quite walk able and not too bad a climb out of the water, so that you could ride the tide downstream and then climb out and hike back.
As of 2006, mussels have completely overgrown the bottom at this site, and only small patches of sand can be found between the rocks.
See Restrictions at the top of this page.
2004 - construction complete
2003 - the floating sailboat dock is finished, at the left, with the stairs down to the
water directly ahead. The bare pilings to the right are for a floating fishing dock
that is to be installed in 2004.
The back bay at Shark River is a fine shallow dive, and a good way to salvage a day when the weather prevents diving in the inlet or the ocean. The diving is done in the cove near the swimming beach just south of the marina on Route 35 in Belmar.
The bottom here is silty mud, and easily stirred up. For this reason, it is best to miss the tide slightly rather than dive right on it. This way there will be a gentle current to carry away whatever mess you make. When the tide does start to run, the water just slowly ebbs away, unlike the Railroad Bridge, where things can get crazy and even dangerous pretty fast if your timing is off.
One thing to watch for when diving this site is the wind. A west wind will quickly fill the little cove up with all the seaweed and garbage in the bay. This makes for poor visibility and a nasty disgusting mess during entry and exit. An east wind will do the opposite, and blow all the junk to the far side off the bay. Coincidentally, an east wind is most likely to cause your boat trip to be cancelled, which makes the Shark River bay the perfect backup dive plan. However, if the wind has been blowing from the west for several days, then this site is best avoided; try the inlet or the Railroad Bridge instead, where the current will scour away any accumulated mess.
Much of this area is only five feet deep, going down to about 14 feet at high tide. This makes for a great deal of ambient light during the day, and there are no time exclusions here as there are at the inlet. Together with sometimes startlingly clear water, this makes for a good spot to play with a camera, even one of those little waterproof disposable pool cameras. You will find plenty to photograph. Later in the season, what wood remains is overgrown with many colors of sponge, anemones and algae - red, pink, orange, purple, green, brown. Flounders from tiny one inch babies up to doormats, prehistoric Horseshoe Crabs, and many other crabs, urchins, starfish, mussels, clams, jellyfishes, baifish, baby cunners and Sea Bass, Butterflyfishes ( in season ) and eels are all to be found here.
An angry Blue Clawed crab ( they're born that way. )
Expect visibility in the 10 ft range, with negligible current and wave action. Boat traffic may be a problem, so be sure to have a flag. Many of these boaters are renters from the marina next door, and the worst sort of idiots who will drive right up to your flag just to see what it is, so if you do hear an outboard whirring overhead, stick below it on the bottom until it goes away. Also, try to stay away from the fishermen by the boat ramp.
My sole experience night-diving this site was a disappointment, although a rather unique one: A blizzard of tiny shrimp-like swimming crustaceans, attracted to my dive light, formed my own personal white-out whenever I stopped moving, quickly reducing the viz to near zero. Not really dangerous, but nearly impossible to get anything done.
The town has provided showers and restrooms (locked) in the park. You could park your car at L Street across the highway and hike down to the water stairs by the new dock, or park near the stairs as the sailboat people seem to do. Alternatively, park by the boat ramp, the closer to the beach the better. Then it is just a short hop down the concrete bulkhead into knee-deep water, and then swim out to where it is interesting. You could even walk down the boat ramp, if it's not being used. The fish cleaning stand near the boat ramp has a freshwater hose you can use to clean up after the dive.
There are no time restrictions for diving at this site that I am aware of. You are officially not supposed to use the boat ramp or the adjoining parking lot, but everybody does. Since this is a tidal river, you should dive at slack water. Also, given the shallowness, a high tide is essential. If you've never dived a local river or inlet before, you may want to look at the page on Local Diving Conditions. This site is used regularly for training dives and classes by the local dive shops.
Some more good news for divers: (2003) the boat ramp and the fishing area adjacent to it are likely to be condemned soon, as the bulkheads are collapsing and unsafe. That will leave the whole area for us !
Urchins and sponges
Horseshoe Crabs
Hermit Crabs covered with hydroids.
Windowpane Flounder
The incurrent and exhaust siphons of a clam in a muddy bottom ...
... and their owner, a Quahog Mercenaria mercenaria, next to the hole he was dug out of.
American Eel below a cloud of tiny shrimps
Another eel hiding in a clump of filamentous algae.
Note the bulldog jaw.
Looking down at one of the new pilings, with a Comb Jelly and a Spider Crab. The tangle
of Ulva weed around the base of the piling is typical, and shelters many baby fishes.
A garden of green and brown algae grows on a shallow rock near the boat ramp
The whole aft part of the ship was demolished by the waves,
leaving just the stern post ( see below. )
The remains of the Malta are low scattered debris, 100 yards offshore in Belmar. Given the amount of beach replenishment that has taken place, and the fact that the remains of this wreck are pretty small, I would not expect to find much.
The sternpost of the Malta juts from the surf at low tide off 9th Avenue.
There is more small wreckage below, but hardly worth a dive. Note surfer for scale.
Probably the largest remaining piece of the Malta is her
iron foremast, planted in the sidewalk near the 7-11
at 8th Avenue. Hidden in plain sight.
The old mast is actually a standpipe for the sewage system !
see restrictions for Shark River Inlet
* I hope it is buried, the government sure spends enough of our taxes on this !
I make no claim as to the accuracy, validity, or appropriateness of any information found in this website. I will not be responsible for the consequences of any action that is based upon information found here. Scuba diving is an adventure sport, and as always, you alone are responsible for your own safety and well being.
Copyright © 1996-2008 Rich Galiano
unless otherwise noted
